Mechanism for controlling power-transmission elements.



MECHANISM FOR GONTROLLNG PGWER TRANSMSSN ELEMENTS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 18, 1907y 3 SHEETS-SHEET ll Flin):

[III] J. D. ALLEN. d; J. A. GONLY. MHOHANISM Pon coNToLLINGPowBn TRANSMISSION ELEMENTS.

APPLIOATIOH FILED MAY 18, 190'?.

Patented Mar. 9, 1909.

Q it N gal '.I. Fd

z`l N.

l@ N N W 4s. TVT v @mentn mmmw J. D. ALLEN @L J. A. GONLY.v

MECHANISM POR CONTROLLING POWER TRANSMISSION ELEMENTS.

APPLIoATloNfP'ILED MAY 18,1907.

Patented Mar. 9; i909' s SHEBTSQSHEBT s.

` dbz/@ Ilenia i @b/12 aan@ @wi/twdoow l JOHN D. ALLEN AND JOHN A. ooNLY, or PHILADELPHIA, riiNNsYLvANiA.

HCHANISM FOB CONTROLLING POWER-TRANSMESSIN ELEIWNTS.

Specification of Letteraetent.

` Patented March e, 190e.

Appiicauan med May is, 1907. semi No. steric.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that ive/JOHN D.ALLEN and JOHN A. CONLY, citizens of the United States, and residing at Philadelphia., in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented -new and useful lm- 'provements in Mechanism for Controlling iBower-Transmission lillements, .of Which the fbllowing is a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in mechanism' for controlling power-transmission elements, by means of which a clutch, or an equivalent power-transmissioncontrolling means, can be moved into either of two extreme positions, Or into an intermediate position, and be securely locked in any one of said positions.

' A further object of our invention is to provide pneumatic mechanism for actuating the said clutch, or the lil e,sa1d pneumatic i'n'echanisin being manually controlled from -imy convenient locationv to move the clutch, or other power-transmission controlling means in either direction into-an extreme position or into an intermediate position.

Our invention is more particularly designed for controlling theV position of al clutch, b'etiveen two of the gears forming part of the driving train of an automobile,

and is illustrated.. and described herein in tliat-connection, but, as Will'be obvious, it is not continedf to such use, but is `applicable to any poiver-transmission vcontrolling mechanism, wherein a transmitting or controlling element 'has toy be shifted into tyvo or more positions.

A s illustrated-'iii the accompanying drawin gsyour invention is applied to the shifting of a clutch carriediby a rotating shaft, but, /while.advantageously. used ni such ccnnection, it is equally applicable for 'use Where the powertransmissionelement ldries' not Fig-ure l isa plan view ofthe running gear of an automobile equipped with our invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view'of the clutch actuating means, 1 the pneumatic mechanism being-mainly shown' in section; Fig. 3 vis a longitudinal .section through the shaft, the clutch and' its gears, and the pneumatic cylinder, the connections between the piston and the clutch being shown in elevation; Fig. 4: is a longitudinal section -through the parts of the clutch-actuating means; Fig. 5 is au elevation of'a. portion of the pneumatic cylinder and its valve-chest,

and, Fig. 6 is a section through one of the manually-operated valves, by ,which the admission of air to the pneumatic-cylinder is controlled.

Referring first to Fig. l, there is shown at 1,1, the front Wheels of an automobile and at 2, 2, the rear, driving Wheels, the axes of said Wheels being connected by the frame 3.

The driving-shaft 4 of the rear Wheels is drivenv from a motor, not shown, through the sproeket-Wheel' and the change-gearing,

indicated in a general Way by the numeral 6. This gearing includes an intermediate shaft Y, carrying the two loose gears 8 and 9.

Slidablymounted on the shaft betiveen said gears sthe clutch 10, shown in section -in Fig. 3, which is connected to a rod V11,slidably mounted in a bore in' the end of the shaft, by a pin l2, passing through slots 13 m said shaft. The means for moving the rod'll in the bore of the shaft 7 to 'cause the clutch l0, which isfsliown as having conical friction surfaces adapted to engage congu gate surfaces in the gears 8 and '9, into en vgagement with either gear or into an inter mediate position, comprise a pistiiiifi, coutained in a cylinder 1'5, and having itsiod lGsWiveled at 17 to a yoke 18, the arnisof which are bolted to a collar 1S?, slidabiy mounted on shaft said collar c ,raies a pair of oppositely rejecting en` tending longitudinali Y 'of the shaft, and pro vided with hooks 2l at their ends, which en gage around the tails 22 of a pair of dogs 23 seated in slots 24, formed inl said shaft, and j in grooves '25, formed in the rod 1l. By niovingrthe collar 19along thesliaft 7, said dogs are rocked, 'Which results in their foreF ing` the rod l1 longitudinally Within said shaft and locking it in any position, as will now be. further explained. rhe dogs 23 face in opposite directions and rock on two oppositely-facing surfaces on the rodlllfformed by one side of each'slot 24,-Wliile the toes 26 .of the dogs bear a ainst the cor# respondingY oppositelydacin'g s oulders 27.

illustrated., the dogs are placed back tback, and theshaft-surfaces, en which the dogs rock, lic inside the shoulders on the rod ll,

against which they ,exert their leverage when Aformed by\one side of each groove 2de-Als Clif . ci the tivo eisen with distance between th of 'the slots -is positively ioclred jacent edges a when 'b other inns inclin position to the other.

In 'the position Shown in Fig: 2, the rod ll has been moved by "'li dog te tee e-- treme left-hand position the cin'tch is in engagement with the .lf 3;. l gear 8, :Fig 3 the clutch ie to be j n'own clear over, the oi the doge Wili, continued until.

the i l one has reached the Straight h cati i in 'which the other shown in Fig. and vice-versa, but if the clntch is to disengaged from both gears, the collar i9 is only' nu oved 'liar enougn to bot. dogs in Liitfd posi# tionsg het 'wifi over th lonbitndinal io* movement, except when t e collar is shifted, will. he" obvious. Tie obtained by the doge is very et ong and but slight force is required to ehift the collar and rock the doge to actuate the clutch.. .lfn order to prevent 'the dogs fronialling out, the slots 2e in the "I not carried three iut shoulder 28 ,niet Whichfthe end ces necessarily n e the following means .4 me euriacei at the Sides o; C :nous 24:: in the shaft, which serve- :iielcrinns for thc dogs, F The i ed d ep point einem i to receive the tivo Slots 2 a conf-r .29,

Shoulder for t collar ted position Y r ce ,ar Bl, ,d Aportion of 'the for the ted posi- `coll.

sleeve er, v/i cn t ended on the sh lar 3l, -lec collare 525i all oil portion. faces Y act i on, said being anreduced the ein enel y, which t he i 'the course,

Lv left, the rod ll'le come now to the' means whereby the piston L; is controlled, that is to say, Whereby the air-pressure is admitted. on eitherside 'thereof to move it into either extreme position or into the central position. In the rst place., a reservoir of compressedr air 35 is provided, the same being supplied, in the present embodiment of our invention, by a pomp 36, driven from the rimary shaft which carries the sprocket-vv leel 5. Means provided to keep the pressure in the reservoir or tank 35 approximately constant, but, Since Said means form no part of our present invention, no description thereof is necessary. From said tank a pipe 37 leads te three valve--casings 38, arranged, When our invention is applied to an automobile, on the dash-board of the vehicle or at some point 'convenient to the drivers seat, As

each oi said three valve-casings Iis identical in construction, a description of one of them will sulice, referendce being now had to Fig.

6. The valve-casing 38 comprises a chamber i into which the said air-inlet pipe 37 leads, and having a valve-seat 40, Withl which concis a valve ll, having a stem 42,

euitably' guided in the casing and surrounded by a spring 43, tending to keep said valve on its seat. 'On the other side of said valve-se t, said stem passes through la cha1nber 392", from which leads an outlet pipe, as

a6, and provided With an exterior valve-Seat 44, ivith `which coacts a valve 45, carried by :said stern, which also carriesat its end a button 45 outside said casing.v When the button is pushed in, the valve 45 -is closed and 'valve .Li-l is lifted from its seat againstv the pressure of said. spring, whereby airpressure is admittedfrom chamber 39 past said valve il into chamber 39, and thence,

through' the outlet pipe 46 to the valve-.chest (55 ot the cylinder l5. As soon as the but-ton is; released, aprilie i3 closes valve 41 and opens valve a5, a lowing the air to escape from pipe Ll-G to the atmosphere, there being suitable apertures in the cap 45h.- While the three valve-casings 38 have or may have a .common inlet pipe 37, they have separate outlet pipes, which are indicated in Figs.

v i and 2 by t6, 47 and 48, respectively.

Referring new to Fig. 2, it will be seen that the pipes 47 and A4,8 "communicate 'through passages 49 and 59,. respectively, with the cylinder l5, on opposite sides of theextrenie positions of the piston 14, While pipe 4-6 communicates with either of said i passages Vt-9 or 50, through a Valve 51,t he'; stem oi. which is connected byl a link 53,

to one end of a lever 54, pivoted at 55 and having its other end operatively connected to the piston-rod 16, so that said Valve 5l will be turned in one direction or the other afs the piston -Mf'fis rcciprocated. The valve has a traneverse passage 56, which is put into communication with either of two paswliieh arrangeinentv Willappear from the description of the operation of this mechanism which follows. -Each of said passages 57, 5S, is provided withy a leak-screw 59, which permits the air to escape gradually when the supply is ont oli.

.lVith the Aarrangeinen't ot gearing for driving an autoniohile, illustrated in Fig. l and for which our invention was especially designed, the'ee'ntral position ot the piston lei-and the `correspending neutral position of the clutch i---c'orresponds to the slowest `2li speed of the jvehiele, for example five miles an hour, this position being that Vassumed when pressure admitted through pipe d6, tifhil'e the extreme positions of the piston 11i ofnrespond respectively to tivo higher 9B speeds, for example, l0 miles an hour and 20 vmiles an. hour. As illust lJed, the righthfmd position ofthe piston, caused by admitting.' air through pipe i8, corresponds to the left-hand position of the clutch, and as 3% the lefthand gear S is larger than the right hand gear 9. to the intermediate speed, 'yvhile the other extreme position of the piston 114 to the left corresponds Yto the highest speer;

` The operation ot'L Athese parts .is as followsrf-Startingwith the piston 14 in its central' position, corresponding -to the low speed,- it can -be moved ineither direction, to ,change to the intermediate orhigh speed, iii hy admitting pressure either through pipe or 47. Alssuming that 'pressure is adifilted through pipe 48 to change to. the `inimmediate speed, the button a of the A rake-casing from which the said interme- '50 diate speed pipe 48 leads, is pressed until the change of speed has been effected and is then released. This admits air through pipe 48 into chamber 60, and thence into passage 50, the disk G1 being therebylfor'ced doaguinst the mouth of assageS, closing the saine. YThe pressure loins admitted into cylinder l5 ltorces the piston 14 over into'the position illustratel in Fig. 2, thereby rocking the dogs and moving the rod ll to the 8U left, bringlngthe clutch into engagement with the left-hand gear 8. The button 45a being released, the nir escapes from behind lhe'piston through the valve 45 of the correspondhig valvr-x-casu-ig 38, leaving' the piston'iu said position and the clutch locked in the intermediate speed. To go new onto theI high speed, the button 45 of the yalve-casing` 38, from which leads pipe 47, ispressed land air is admitted on -the other side of the piston, moving it to its other extreme position and, consequently, the clutch int'o en- `gageu1ent with gear 9, .which is the highv speed gear.. lllhe'n the piston is thus moved into either of its'extreme positions, it turns the val\re 51,'tl1'rongh the stem 52 thereohto pnt the passage through said valve into coinniurlication with one or the other of the pas-y sages 5T, 58, so that by admitting ait' through pipe 4G, the piston'can he moved from either4 extreme. position to its Central position, correspondio@ to the low speed. 1When the piston is in die high-speed position, illustrated in; Fig. f2, the passage of low-speed Valve 5l is in connnunication with the passage 57 leadingto. the lchalnber 60 'of the inter- -uiediate-speed pipe 4.7 and the passage 49,

and vire versa. New, with the piston in this high-speed position, shown in Fig, E2, and that it is desired to change-to the low speed; air is adi'nitted through the lows eed valvecasing 38, pipe 4G, valve-passage 6 and posi sage 57 to chamber G0., and disk 61 is there by forced over apainstthe modth of pipe 4T; the an1 then passes throughpassage 49 into the cylinderand moves the piston to the left.l As. the piston moves, the valve 5l. is

turned, shutting oti' the communication hel'wcen its pass ige 56 and the passage The air behind the piston then escapes through the lealeserew 59, ieaviug the piston in its central tmsito'n.` ihouid, however, the expansion of said air heitere it can escape cause the piston to' r ivebeyondits central position, such movement will cause the valve-passage 56 to he put in eornrnunication with the passage 58 leading through chamber 60 to the other side 'of the piston", which will arrest its further movement and cause it to assume its central positiomwhereupon such pressure as may remain on either side is exhausted throgh the leak-screws 59. It will thus be ,seen that, no matter in what position the iston may he, it can be moved into either oi'P its other two posit-ions by vsiluply pressing onone of the buttons 45 until the desired position, and consequently, speed of the vehicle or lua-chine, is atta-ined, when the button can be released until another change in speed is Wanted.

It Will be clear thatour invention, as described above, is adapted for use Wherever a. power-transmission 'controlling element is required to be shifted, and that it Vprovides an easy, manually-operable means for shifting such an element positively with any re- .quired degree of .force and for locking it in any position to which it may be moved.

dogfiooseiy mounted in. essi-i .,of essi; pair .meing'one dog io' i.

"sure openair-xi. means to rooie said dogs.

vof pair of snoei 'of opposiieiyise between 'transmission Viens 'time the meeize l adapted to somete Whether it, be *iz-sied, i. ifi; eieetric- Hoving iits method oi operai; claim iselement siterimieiy in og ,oinnqy id in and e member streaked 'to members im fing; each s, facing snoei s, sV ps c.. dogs, simijditun in 1 olf-seid ne.: nmeneousiy 3.oei. rections.

2. Mechanism vre-nsmission e ei ons.

opposa j fgirg one of each rf, d inidqjsressnre operated mer/111s *o simniteneousljf rock seid dogs in ,opposie i. :eci/ions.

A cio' sin' A ing e iioiio'z'v i and :ii'slsiied the einen, siotied to iforin e paia.' shooiders end seid rod. hereon two oppcf'neiy-f" of eeen pair fac f' of the posiiion to bess. eg es s iineruin end, wie

ciuten i 'ding in ing ixoii m-simft, e, ro and attached '42o die eiui'c'g' lsloi''sd to.' 'n1 off. showin ess :Mid seid rod thereon two opge. ,y'fi

shouiders, onel of. the o'hei'f pair, e y monned in each seidios in position to against one side of iie slot es s fnicrnn". i n'f'i-ix iis toe :igeinsi the adecent shouider on me rod., end 'Fluid-pres.

shouiders on each oi seid members. 'sjoeii oi opposiieiy-ifeeing dogs simu'iieneoo y e: geving eeen of seid p ir oi onin'ieir sind means to midieneonsiy roei; seid in opposite di reciions.

6. The combination '\A o. iioiiow in einher fom/ing' transverse sio s rod siideoijy lmlnnied wibii; seid member and provided one oppositeiy facing shoulders, e pair of op@` s; 'ey- :'fecing dogs loosely mounted sin said siois esci) dbg bearing against one side oiE each sioi es eyiuicrnm end beer- Wijfn doe againsi, the oppositelbyfecing snonioer, means to edgns 'the positions of s idv sides of said riots reietive'ly to seid n nier, and ineens to si .inieneousy rook seid dogs in opposite directions.

1 The combination with o. shaft, of el siidsble on seid siiuf, e rod siidebie seid smift end connected io said clutch, said shaft having pair of transverse sots en d ereduced end portion, and seid rod fi wing e pair of oppositeiy-fscing transshoulders at s greater distance spart than thai; beween the outer edgeof the inner siot and the inner edge of the outer sot, en

fiable ooiier -hreeded on said reduced por n so :is so overiep the outer edge of the innei' slot, :i sleeve threaded on said reduced portion behind seid` coiier, e second adjustie coiisr threaded on said seduced portion l d sleeve so es 'to overlap the inner 1e outer slot, and means to shift s 1d rod with the shaft, comprising e pair of opposiiey--feoing dogs mounted within seid sisi: eeen dog bearing against one of seid collars a hiiorum and bearing with its toe rod, o. sleeve having oppositely-projecting en; engaging seid dogs end mounted to on seid iirsbmention-ed sleeve, e yoke .onneeicd eo said sleeve, e non-rotary rod ei i to said-yokevwand means to reciproin s ciuizc'n shifting mechanism, the

combination wit-n e reciproceble rod, of e pison, three menueliy controlled valves for admitting fluid-pressure on either side of seid piszon to move i6; co-its extreme positions, or alternately on both sides to move it io its central position, and means actuated oy die movements of seid piston and acting on said rod to move it into either extreme position or into an intermediate positlon,

seid means being constructed to iock said rod 1 agonist movement in either direction except" l when actuated by said yiiston. l

lo. .in e clutch-shifting mechanism, the.

conxbiimtion with' cylinder provided with ffwo edonssion and exhaust-ports,-e.p1ston therein,3 e recxpzoeshie.:felutchs operating n'xemoer o pei-eti voi y conneeed to said piston, with o's'oosiizey facing snonideis, e, pmi: of e msnimy ooiitroied...Valve conneetedftogl yconnected to both said ports and' means 'il tl actuated by the movements of the piston to control the admission of fluid-pressure from said third valve.

11.. in a clutch-shifting mechanism, the combination of a cylinder', a piston therein having its rod operatively connected to the clutch, a casingr connected to said cylinder and provided with two air-passages leading to said cylinder on opposite sides of the eX- treme positions or' the piston, two chambers connected to said passages and containing automatic valves, a valve connected to move with said piston, a passage leading from said last-mentioned valve to each of said chambers, and leak-plugs leading into said two last-mentioned. passages, a pressure-supply pipe leading to each of said chambers and a third pressure-supply pipe leading` to said piston operated valve, and independent manually-controlled means for admitting pressure to each of said supply pipes, Whereby pressure can be admitted to said chambers to move said piston into either extreme position or into a central position.

1Q. ln a clutch-shifting mechanism, the combination of a clutch-actuating means constructed and adapted to lock the clutch in any position, a. cylinder and piston therein operatively connected to said means, tivo independent spring-valwasl which, When actuated, admit luid under pressure to oneside or the other of said piston, and, when released, allow the liuid 'pressure to escape, a valve connected toa move with the piston to admit Huid-pressure to either sidethereof,

and means to control the admission of fluidpressure to said piston operated valve, whereby said piston can be moved and held in either extreme position or in a central position.

13. In a fluid operated clutch shiftin mechanism., the combination of a cylinder, a piston therein operatively connected to the clutch, three independent manually-operated valves to control the movements of said piston, one of said valves admitting pressure to one side of said piston, another admittingY pressure to the other side of said piston, and the third admitting pressure to either side of said piston, or to both sides alternately, so as to brin@ it to a central position.

14;. In a uidoperated clutch shifting mechanism, 'the combination of a cylinder, a piston therein, clutch-actuating means operatively connected to said piston and constructedto lock the clutch in any position against movement except by said piston, three independent manually-operated valves to control the movements of said piston, one of said valves admitting pressure to one side of said piston, another admitting pressure to the other side of said piston, and the third admitting pressure to either side of said piston, or to both sides alternately, so as to bring it toa central position.

Signed at Philadelphia, Pa., this 11th day of May.y 1907, vin the presence of two Witnesses.

JOHN D. ALLEN. JOHN A. CONLY.

lVitnesses HENRY FARLEY, ARTHUR J. 1VVILLs. 

